I am staying at least one more transfer!!

This week has been filled with more miracles and great opportunities to serve! Monday we just had our preparation day. 

Tuesday 

I had MLC, so I went up and met with all of the zone leaders and sister training leaders and with the mission president and we had another meeting and talked about the training that will be presented for this month. But we had a great discussion on light and darkness. And we read alot out  Doctrine and Covenants sections 50 and 93. They had some great scriptures in them. But one of the main things we talked about was how we can add more light into our missionary work in out areas. And I wish I could describe the conversation we had better, but I can't. The spirit was so strong and just had an incredible lesson.  

But some of the ways that we talked about applying this lesson in our work are, things like obedience to the rules. As we are obedient we are able to receive blessing and are able to see more miracles in our life. We also talked about how we can add more light by keeping things clean. Whether it be the apartment or the car, or anything like that, that is how we can receive more light into our lives.  After this we went straight in to our role play and me and Elder Stewart really seem to teach well together, and we had a great role play. But it was good to be able to hear the things that were taught there. 

After that we traveled back and we started planning on how we would present this training at our zone meeting. So after a couple hours of throwing ideas back and forth we were able to come up with a good lesson plan on how to present this training. And we came up with a fun activity that would catch all of the missionaries by surprise. Also that night we went to the mall and street contacted and taught like 3 different lessons! It was such a blessing. We were able to talk to some different people because members would stop us if they worked at stores and invite us to come and talk to there friends. 

Weds

We volunteered at at PCI and we were able to get alot of stuff done that day. But after we volunteered that morning we went aback to our apartment and we changed and got ready to go teach a lesson to Randy. So we taught him the first half of the commandments, but we really emphasized the word of wisdom. And it went over really well. He committed to stop smoking, and we gave him a priesthood blessing. He really is continuing to have a desire to change and come closer to Christ. 

Thursday

We went over to the bishops house and helped him with some things he needed, and boiled some deer skulls with him. But this is always been good because we sit down and talk about the missionary work that is going on here in the college park ward! But it was good, and we were able to have a really good lesson with bishop after. We talked to him about our new mission standards to baptize weekly and he is ready! He wants to find a way to really get the members to act on the promptings they have. I know that as we continue to come together as the members and the missionaries, then this work will move forward so much! I know that this is true! So the spirit was there and now bishop is even more excited to get the work moving forward! And tonight we saw another big miracle! 

We went and knocked on Brother Marshburns house, and he let us in. This was the first time I have seen him in  a while, and he was excited to see me and we talked alot again. For those who don't remember James Marshburn worked for my grandpa years ago and actually knows alot of my family! And so we were able to share stories. He talked about how he always felt like he was apart of the family. And I looked at him and told him that he will always be apart of our family. And I think that really helped him. He opened up even more and we just had a great discussion! But that was such a miracle as well! 

Friday 

We had zone meeting, and I was conducting this time. And the meeting went really well. We always seem to be very short on time, but it was still a great meeting. The big part of the training was on inviting people and helping them keep commitments. I know it can be hard, but I know that when we are able to help investigators and members keep commitments there are able to be blessed. They open up doors that will bless there lives forever. So after this we did the role play and I was just going from group to group and giving advice where I could. But at the end we gave all the missionaries a pen and paper and told them that there was a picture we drew on the board in the gym that they would go in and draw. 

So we told them they had a couple min and then they started to go into the gym. They sat down and then we turned the chalk board around and the missionaries saw if for about 3 seconds and then all the lights turned off. We told them they needed to draw it in the dark and add as much detail as they could to it. And then after the couple minutes were up we had them draw it in the light and see the difference. We then compared this back to the training given in the meeting we had.  But that was a great lesson and it turned out to be a great day. We were able to get in with some different families and teach lessons to them.

Saturday

Today was a day where we saw more miracles. We went and got in with different families. We wanted to go check up on randy though and so we went and knocked on his door and he wasn't home. But then I remembered an apartment we wanted to go knock on and check from a previous referral in the last year and we knocked on it and it was a whole family of less active members that wanted to start coming back to church. That was such a huge blessing! We talked with them for a bit and they said they wanted to come back. And so we told them we have church at 11 and they said there are going to really try to start coming. 

And then we got there information and brought there records into our ward. But right after we left, we ran in to another less active family who is also wanting to come back to activity. So we taught them a lesson also! It was a great day! We are seeing so many opportunities to help reactivate members! This is just as big and important as helping someone get to the gates of baptism. So I know that as we continue to do this that we will be blessed and we will continue to see the hand of the lord in our lives! So please look for opportunities to serve those around you!

Sunday

We had meetings all morning, but they went very well. And then church is always a blessing. It is one of the best parts of the week to be able to sit down and to partake of the sacrament and renew the promises with my Heavenly Father. I always feel peace and just feel happy every Sunday after coming out of church. And then the rest of the evening we went around and taught the missionary lessons to different members. I love seeing when members get excited to do missionary work. It is such a great blessing, and I know that once they get more involved the work will move forward, and we will be able to continue to see the work hasten here and in the places we live! 

I know this is true. I have seen this through out my mission. Members influence the work so much so please pray for the missionaries in your area and for missionary experiences. And if you do I promise you that you will be able to have incredible experiences and the Lord will lead you to those who are prepared!

I hope y'all have a great week!

Elder Joshua V. Christensen

Follow the Promptings of the Spirit

Howdy Y'all!!

Things this week have been pretty good! We have had a very blessed week. So starting with Monday, we had some members sign up on our dinner Calendar to feed us that night, but at the same time bishop really wanted to have us over that night, and asked to see if we could have the other family switch him days. So we were trying to switch days, but then I found out that they would be having a less active member over that we have been trying to meet with for months now. So I felt that the impression to meet with them,  So what we ended up doing was we went on splits. 

My companion stayed with the Bishop and the other missionaries, and I ended up going over to this other families home to have family home evening with them. We had a good dinner, and then I ended up kinda teaching solo cause I was with the members on the split. But the less active member was participating in the lesson, and it was really good. We went over the Doctrine of Christ with him, and actually had a really good discussion. So I was glad I was able to help them out that night. I know it was defiantly what I needed to do that night to best fulfill my purpose as a missionary.

Tuesday,

We had dinner with one of our investigators Ben. After we ate, we sat down and watched the restoration video on Joesph Smith. The spirit was there, and I think it really helped Ben out. He has talked about how he wants to make sure that he is doing this for himself, and not because of the members. And we are so glad he understands that. We then talked to him about how he could find out for himself if that was something that God would want him to do. And he looked at us and said, "Well I guess I need to be reading the Book of Mormon more. And then we told him that is exactly how he would be able to find out for himself. So we committed him to keep reading, and we will continue to help him out the best that we can. 

Also that day we had an opportunity to meet with a new investigator that we have. Her name is Andrellia  and she is so prepared. We had a great first lesson with her, and are excited to see her progress. She had so many great and sincere questions. We may end up handing her off to the sisters though. She is mid 20's, and it would be easier for the sisters to meet and teach her so that may be the next step.

Wednesday,

We had the opportunity to go to the temple on Weds, and I just love going there so much! I can't even explain how much joy and peace it brings in to my life. The Spirit is so strong there, and I love being able to go and find answers to prayers. And I love the knowledge that comes from the temple, and knowing that families can be together forever. This is truly a blessing in my life! 

Well after the temple, we had an appointment with Randy D. He is the one who has been coming back to church. And we were able to have a really good discussion with him. He explained to us some of the concerns that he is having, but overall he really wants to continue coming! He is seeing how much of a difference comes from going to church. And I know that is so true. 

Church is the great chance when can go and partake of the sacrament, and renew those precious covenants or promises with God. That is where we can continually feel as clean as we do when we decide to get baptized. God loves us so much and that is why he has given us the doctrine of Christ to make us happy! It is his way to bless our lives as well as our families! 

Thursday,

We had weekly planning, but then that day we got a call from some members that needed some help with some stuff.  So we went over to there house and helped them for about one and a half hours. By the time we finished we went back to our apartment to finish our weekly planning. But that night we went to the mall, and we could see the tender mercies of the Lord. 

My companion and I were having a bit of a rough time, because we didn't have a lot of teaching opportunities that day. But that night we were going through the mall trying to talk with some people. And we had some members stop us and thank us for what we were doing. They said that they could tell there was something different about us. They said something that really made me feel good and feel of the love that my Heavenly Father has for me. They said "even in the mall, where it is loud and crazy things going on, the Spirit shined through us and all the people that see us could recognize it. They said they saw us walking towards them and they could just feel something different when we walked towards them. And that was such a blessing to me. 

It goes to show that if we are doing whats right we can have the Spirit with us. And we can make any place a place where we can know of the love God has for us.That helped me and my companion out so much that night and I am grateful for the chance we had to be able to talk with them and share a lesson on Jesus Christ with them. The Spirit was just so strong where were and it was just and incredible feeling!

Friday,

We had a good district meeting, and then we just went around trying to visit with different members that day. Alot of people were gone or busy this day, but that night we just walked around a big park and also went back to the mall to street contact. But we had someone recognize us and they ran from one of the stores to catch us. They saw we were missionaries! 

They were asking us questions about what we believed about Joseph Smith. And so we were able to teach her about the restoration. And she wanted to have a copy of the Book of Mormon, so we gave that to her and gave her our number. So hopefully she will will read it and then give us a call. She seemed pretty interested though. But it just goes to show as we continue to show our faith to the lord, he will put people in our path who are ready to hear the gospel. The mall is been a blessing because of the lessons we have been able to teach there! 

Saturday,

We went and met with a member who has been going through a bit of a hard time, but we got to see how he was doing. He is such a great and faithful member! But then we went to help a less active sister and her family. She needed help moving a bed into her sons apartment, and originally we thought it would just take like and hour or two because she wanted to feed us also. So by the time we got the service done it was close to 6:00pm and it was a bit of a long day because there was alot of arguing going on with the family and it was hard to feel the Spirit. 

But we kept trying to help in any way we could, and at the end of the night we asked if we could share a lesson on the Book of Mormon. And then the Spirit took over and the less active sister started asking us questions, and we were better able to help her understand. And for some reason after one of the questions I asked started sharing our missionary purpose. And then I connected it in with that is why it is important that we go to church. And it just totally clicked for her. 

She understood that she needed to start going to church again, and she told us how she had a desire to go through the temple and started asking us how can I get back on the right track so I can go through and we talked with her and had a super spiritual discussion. I know that because of the Spirit we were able to help her. 

This whole week I have seen how the influence of the Spirit can truly guide each of us in our lives and can help bless the lives of others. I know that is true. So when you receive promptings, make sure to act upon them. When you act you are blessed beyond measure! I now this is true. 

Keep looking for these great opportunities to serve! They are out there! I love y'all and hope you have a truly wonderful week! 

Elder Joshua V. Christensen

Howdy Y'all!

       

    Hey! So this week has been a pretty good week. Last Monday we were able to meet with one of the investigators who has been waiting about a year now to get baptized. She has been waiting for the support of her spouse. But Monday we were able to get to meet with her and the Bishop and talk some things out. She talked about how she is still very interested in becoming a member, but still wants full support from her spouse, which totally makes sense. That is how it should be. But she said she wants her husband to meet with the bishop so they can talk a little bit. But it was a really cool experience. 

The spirit was defiantly there, and at the end we got to share a lesson with her that I really think helped her out. But it was a great way to spend that Monday night, and then following that we were able to go over to our ward mission leaders home to teach him the lesson on commandments, that way my companion would be able to practice teaching them. It went really well, and I feel that we had a good conversation on the ones we discussed which were Prayer, and studying the scriptures. So that was a great night. 

Tuesday

It was a little bit of a slower day for us. We went out around 12 after having all of our studies and our training we have to do and then lunch. And we went around to a couple of different members that day. We were also trying that day to continue to find new people to talk to, so we just walked around a couple of different parks that day. And then later that afternoon we were able to go and volunteer at a food bank, where we helped organize food for those who were in need of it. We did this for about 2 hours that day. We then had dinner with family in the ward who I did not know to well, and I was able to get to know them better. We were able to teach them a lesson about prayer and scripture study as well. 

Wednesday

We had interviews with the Mission President, and also had the Assistants present some training to us. They talked to us alot about the topic of teaching simply with love and by the spirit. So we all practiced doing this in a role play where we taught the message of keeping the Sabbath day holy in about 4 minutes. But I felt like during this training and the time I had to spend with President Pingree I was just so excited to be able to go back and work again. It was a good recharge for my spiritual batteries. 

But after this me and my zone leader companion went on exchanges just for the afternoon. We had to prepare for Stake Correlation that we had on Just yesterday, but it took us a couple of hours to finish that all up. We were planning this night to have a lesson with one of our investigators Jenny, but it ended up falling through last minute. We were trying to meet with a lot of our investigators this week, but alot of the appointments fell through. So now we are trying to reschedule with the majority of them. 

Thursday

We did our studies and we also did our weekly planning. But right after that, we went over to our bishops house. He wanted us to go with him over to his neighbors house so we could introduce our selves to him, and then he wanted to do a couple of actives with us. One of them was golf related. In his back yard he has a big putting green, but because of the storm we went into his shop where he has a little one. And they wanted to see who could putt the best. So it was a fun activity where we were able to get to know him better, and do something that he enjoyed doing. So that was fun. 

This day was pretty cold, and we had freeze warnings, and actually got a some ice and a little bit of snow. It was crazy and we are actually expecting more of it tomorrow. But after bishops house we went to more members to teach them the missionary discussions. And that night just walked around the mall and market street to try and find others that might be interested in learning more. We have really been trying to find more investigators this week so that we can have more in our teaching pool so we can continue to stay busy. 

Friday

Alot of members were home today because of the storm that we had. But also this day we did some tracting! And people were really nice! We tracted for about 2 hours in about 34 degree weather, and so it was a blessing because more people were willing to talk with us. But we had a miracle happen to us at them mall. We just went in and started walking around. And about 30 mins in, a lady named Dianna stopped us at the customer service desk, and started asking us questions. She had different questions about Joseph Smith and about other things about our church. And we were able to answer them. We gave her a card with our information, and she said if she had anymore questions she would contact us. She was very nice though! So we want to try and go back and talk to her the next time we see her. 

Saturday

 We did service for the majority of the morning. We went up to a homeless shelter up in Conroe and helped them reorganize some of their storage facilities. It was a great experience to  be able to help them out and we got to meet some people with some really cool stories. But we got back around 2 30 and then got ready, and then we just went out for the day and followed the same patter as the rest of the week. 

Sunday

Sunday was a little long but it was good. I had to wake up at 515 so that I could get ready for our early morning meeting with the mission president and stake presidency. I dropped my companion off with Elder Stewart's companion and then we went to this meeting. We talked alot about the missionary work going on in the stake. We had other meetings and things that morning, and then church. But after church we went and visited with members, and just walked around trying to meet new people. We then got a message from one of our investigators named Morgan. I haven't talked as much about him, but we met with him in December, and he seemed to be struggling, so we went over and talked with him, and tried to help him out. By the end of the night he seemed to be doing much better. 

But he told us he believes in the Mormon religion, but he also wants to be apart of other faiths as well. So we are still working with him, but he is so awesome and he is doing well. Then to finish the night we ended up walking for about 2 hours to try and find those who were around different parks, and we were able to teach a lesson to someone who was in a park and we were able to invite a couple other people to learn about the gospel. I know it was God who put those people in our path and helped us to be able to talk with him. 

So I know that there are those who are out there who are ready to hear the gospel. We just need to do our part as members and pray for opportunities to find them. Please continue to pray for the missionary experiences. I promise you that if you will be able to have them. And also just pray for the missionaries in your area. Pray that they will have success. I know that this will help them as well. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be out here serving a mission, and I know this is where I am suppose to be right now. Great things are happening here in the mission. 

Well I hope y'all have a wonderful week. 

Elder Joshua V. Christensen

Pictures from Texas Houston Mission Blog

We found the pictures below on the Houston Texas Mission Blog that included Elder Christensen.

The first picture is from the December 2013 Christmas Conferences.  The picture includes about half of the mission.

The second picture is from recent training meetings with the missionaries in each area.

Teach Simply, with love, and by the Spirit

  So when we met with the mission president a little while ago for MLC, he talked a little bit about this statement that I put in the subject of the email. During the training for that day he asked us to go and take the training we received to zone meeting which was a couple weeks ago. Well along with this he asked us to do follow up on this training with all the companionship in the zone. 

So the training that was received for this was, to teach the message of the restoration simply with love and by the spirit. The goal was to teach it simply enough that you could do it in ten minutes, and that the spirit could really testify to the investigator of the truthfulness of the message. So we presented this in the zone meeting we had a couple weeks ago and this week was doing the follow ups. 

Monday,

Monday was just a day where we did a lot of traveling. I had to drive an Elder out to Cyprus so he could do some stuff for his visa that he is waiting for. So then with that we just got the rest of the stuff we needed to do for that day. That night we just went around to different members and taught them lessons found in Preach My Gospel. And then did normal street contacting until we needed to return to the apartment. 

Tuesday,

We just went to different members also that day, and then following this we went tracting. Now I really don't like tracting, and especially here in the Woodlands it is very ineffective. But we were really trying to show our faith to the Lord by inviting others to learn. Also, as part of our new mission standards for the year, we are asked to try and invite 25 people a day to learn about the message of the restored gospel. So just this month as a zone we decided to keep track of how many Invitations to learn(ITL) we make. So we went tracting to try and get up to this 25 ITL Goal we had set. Well we went to a little over 25 houses and out of that only had 7 ITL's. So we just from there went and met with some more members to teach them the missionary discussions. But that was our day. 

Wednesday,

We went over to a less actives home named Randy Davidson. He has been inactive more many years, and we went and knocked on his door about 2 months ago and he expressed to us that he wanted to start coming back to church. So the past few weeks he has been coming to church. So we decided it would be good if we went back and started to teach him the missionary lessons as well. He seemed to really enjoy the message of the restoration. And so we are really trying to help him truly understand the doctrine of Christ, as well as help his testimony grow of the restored gospel. 

What will be good is it will also give my new companion opportunities to see how the lessons are taught, and to better understand the doctrines and principles found in them. But Randy has this sincere desire to come back. He talks about how each week he just looks forward to Sunday because he enjoys it so much! I love just seeing the change that takes place when God is involved in our lives and when we live the commandments and really make the gospel central in our lives! 

Thursday

Today was follow ups for the training, so we went around to the Conroe 1st and 2nd ward Elders. And we just did the role plays over again in zone meeting. We sat down and went over the training again and then straight in to the role play. It turned out really well, and we had some great experiences. But after we met with the Conroe 2 Elders, we drove to the apartment and we were going to do the same thing with the other Elders. But we showed up and we were getting ready to start, and I did the same thing. We talked about what it meant to teach simply, with love, by the spirit. 

So after that we began the role play and they taught first. They did well, it was a bit broken up, but for the most part the spirit could really be felt. I love being able to role play and then still be able to feel the spirit just as strong as a real lesson. And so then we began to teach after and I thought it went ok but I had a feeling to stop and take a little longer on of of the principles of of apostasy. I asked 3 different questions while I taught. I asked,

1 Does God love us as much as he did his children in the New/Old testament times?

2. Does God have the same power he did in the New/Old testament times?

3 Do we need God as much as the people did in the New/Old testament times?

I felt prompted to say these and at the end of the role play the Elder commented on how that was something that they were were looking for. And it just made me feel good to have recognized that prompting and to teach it. So God really can help us and us as we listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. 

After this we started to head back to our area, and we needed gas. Well I had a silly little thought just to get a car wash while we were there, but we were running a bit late for a meeting with our bishop we needed to get to. But I just had that thought again so we got the car washed, but it didn't dry the car very well. So we pulled back up to the pump and dried it off with paper towels, and this lady asked us what we were doing, and where we worked. So we started to talk to her and told her we were missionaries, and we taught her about some of our beliefs. She said that she was interested in learning more, so we got her information and actually got a referral for some of the other missionaries. 

But again we see listening to the Spirit gives us opportunities to help others out. If we didn't get that car wash we never would have met this person. So I just know that as we do our best to follow the spirit in our lives we will be blessed. We will be helped and we can bless the lives of others. I know this and I testify of this to you! 

Friday, we had district meeting, and then just went out for the day to find people to teach. We got a call from Adriann and she told us she was getting ready to go in for a surgery. So we went to visit her in the hospital and then we we able to teach another lesson to her to help comfort her. 

Saturday was kinda a slower day as well. We were able to teach some of the members in our ward and then for a little while we walked around this big park and were able to talk with some different people. But for the most part that was pretty much our week. It was a good busy week. I am so glad for the opportunity I have to be serving in this area and for the chance I have to go declare this gospel to those around me! What a blessing it is! I know this gospel is true. I know that because I have read in the Book of Mormon and pondered its writings in my heart, and then I have prayed to my Heavenly Father, and through the Holy Ghost I was able to come to this knowledge and experience this happiness in my life! 

This is my invitation to y'all, read the Book of Mormon and even if it is just a small portion, ponder it and and pray about it, and I know that you will be able to find an answer. I know that this is true and I can promise that to you as a representative of Christ! 

Well I hope everything is well for y'all, have a wonderful week!

Elder Joshua V. Christensen

God's Vision for us

      Well this weeks has probably been the craziest most stressful week of my whole mission, but at the same time one of the best. 

    Monday I was with Elder Stewart for an exchange. He is my zone leader companion, but not the companion I am with everyday. So while we were on exchanges we were able to have some great experiences. 

Tuesday we had mission leadership council, which is where all of the zone leaders and sister training leaders meet together with the President and Assistants.  It was probably one of the most spiritual meetings I have been in. It is so cool because you really get to understand how the mission works, and how God uses us to help accomplish His great work. We had a great training, and we just discussed the needs of each zone and the needs of the mission. We went over our mission standards for this next year, and we are ready to elevate to the vision that the mission president has for us. But MLC was nice cause it wasn't just a meeting but it truly was a council where we all talked and were able to help each other out. So I came off on  a spiritual high from that meeting. 

Afterwards we had lunch at the mission home and then went over to the mission office for supplies, and then to  a church building that was close. We then took a couple hours to plan zone meeting. And between me, the other zone leader, and the sister training leader we prepared a meeting that we were excited to have.  Well by the time we got back to the area that night it was 6 ish and we just decided to skip dinner and get to work with trying to find new people. So we went street contacting at the mall and actually had some great opportunities to talk with different workers and even some members we ran into. But that was a long day and I was completely exhausted. 

Wednesday I had to leave the area again, now with the new district leader to go to a new leadership training meeting. It was good to hear about how we can do better, and the spirit was defiantly there. After this meeting we went back to the mission office, and the district leader had to take a test so that he could be able to drive here in Texas. So while he was doing this I was with the AP's helping them out with some little things. So I really enjoyed being able to do that. 

Well just like the day before we didn't get back to our areas until later that evening. So then we just got back to work trying to find more people. We got back that night and again was just had no energy, but then I had to make calls and make sure everything was ready for Adrianns Baptism. I had been calling all week trying to set things up, and there were scheduling issues that came up after I had scheduled the building and it was just phone call after phone call trying to get everything worked out. I was also making calls out to the zone to help them prepare for the zone meeting that we were going to have. Finally after being on the phone for almost an hour it look like things were beginning to work out. 

Thursday was my first real day in the area for this week. But we had weekly planning, and were working on ways to better find those out here are prepared. So we kept praying and were looking for ways we could help out investigators to progress. We also had our weekly meeting with the bishop. And half way through the meeting we paused and went across the street to a house that there children had bought, and helped them to get a dryer moved in. The moving people did most of it, but after I was able to talk to them briefly. 

That is one of the big things that I have been trying to get better at. I have been trying to go and just talk to every one that I can. Even though there are those times that I am scared about bringing it up with some people I have been trying to work through that. But I am slowly getting better. And it makes me feel good even when I just am able to invite them to listen. Even if they don't accept, I know that I have done my part. I know that they will still have chances to listen to the gospel eventually. This gospel is such a great thing that we experience and we should be striving to share it with others. The Lord is Hastening his work, and I feel that this year we really will begin to see the work here in Houston just explode. It is truly a prepared place and we will see so many miracles!

Friday was the first zone meeting that I have helped teach. The spirit was defiantly there though. We talked about the new standards for the mission. And the first standard is baptize weekly. Now some of you may look at this and think that it isn't possible, but with the Lord it is absolutely possible. We may not be at the mindset needed for this to happen this very second but in the coming months we will work as hard as we can to get there. 

I have a testimony that this is true. The work really will begin to grow here in Houston and so many people will be blessed because of this. But we are also needing the help of the members. This is the only way that we will be able to accomplish this. And I know the same goes where you are. Please pray for missionary experiences. The members need to be the full time finders and the missionaries the full time teachers. Last conference we heard this through out many of the talks, and I would just invite you to continue trying to spread the gospel with friends and family. It will bless your life just as much as it can bless the lives of others. 

So with that being said, the rest of zone meeting went well. And the rest of that day we just went around to go and visit with members, and with anyone we could talk with. We tried to go to a Less Actives home and he wasn't there. I noticed that there were some people that were in the street, and usually probably not worry about trying to talk with them, but like I said I really am striving to talk with everyone, so I built up the courage and just started walking towards them, and started sharing the gospel with them. They didn't up up being interested, but I felt good that I was able to do that. And I know that later on if they want to learn more they certainly can. 

Saturday we went and were pulling some weeds for a member that needed some help. And then just figured out the last details for Adrianns Baptism. And then that night we were able to watch her get baptized. It was a really good baptismal service, and were had 3 of our other investigators there. And we had so many members show up to the baptism so she defiantly felt welcome. The spirit was there and it was just great to be able to see how happy Adrianns is. Again, the best thing about being a missionary is being able to see that change in the people you teach. Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can all become better and happier. It allows all of us to change! What a blessing it is to us. 

Sunday

I was able to confirm Adriann in Church, and that was a cool experience for me. And just another great day. Before church was even over Adriann came and found us and asked how she could get a limited use recommend for baptisms for the dead. We haven't really talked to her as much about this and she is dying to be able to go do work for the dead! She is truly prepared and will make a great member! 

Other then that we just went and visited with members that day, and tried to get Elder Peterson introduced with more of the ward.

This week was kind of crazy, but it was defiantly worth it. We got to see so many miracles this week it has been incredible! 

Well I hope y'all have a wonderful week!

Elder Joshua V. Christensen

Happy New Year!

Hows it going y'all! Things are good here in Texas, although it is beginning to be a bit chilly! Luckily it will only be like that for a couple days. Well this week has been kinda a really crazy week, and we have seen miracles and surprises and everything in between. So In my last email home I mentioned that my companion was getting transferred, and I wasn't sure if I would be training or what would be going on. 

So... Monday we went and visited lots of members before Elder Harris was leaving. Monday night around 9:50 we got a call from the other zone leader who was joking with me and called me zone leader Elder Christensen, and told me I would be training and all that, he then told me he was just kidding and to call him later. Well he got me pretty good, but I thought I was just getting a companion that had been out for a little while because I hadn't got a call from President Pingree. 

Well I spoke to soon, around 10:20 I got a call from the Assistants because President Pingree wasn't able to call, but they had a couple questions for me. They first asked how the work was going here in College Park, and how the Sisters were doing. I told them that we have been seeing lots of miracles happening with them here and explained that they were doing great. They said they were grateful for the work we were doing, and then they asked me if I would be willing to train again. I told them that I would love to. I don't know if I am the best at it, but I told them would be willing to accept any calling. I might have spoken to soon, right after this they asked me if I could be able to serve as a Zone Leader. This kinda shocked me but I did accept. So with that being said....

Tuesday we drove up to transfers and I dropped Elder Harris off, he will now be serving in the Magnolia Ward which just right next to where our ward boundary is. But it is just barley out of the stake so I won't be seeing him in any meetings. But I was with another elder for a couple of days, and we were between the different areas. So that night we went around and just visited with some different members, and we went over to the Richters for a little while where one of our investigators was, and we were able to see how she was doing. She is the one who will be getting baptized this Saturday if everything works out. 

Weds we did the same things with visiting members. So were still out of town so it was a bit difficult. But It was good, that night we were able to teach Adriann again. But things went really well. Then right after that we went to a part member family over in one of the other wards. They were such a great family! I really enjoyed being able to talk with them and get to know them better. it was really enjoyable! The father is not a member but he is so kind and a perfect example of what southern hospitality is. So we had a great night with that.

Thursday 

We went up to the training meeting where we would be picking up our new companions. So my new companion is another Elder Peterson, he is cool. He is 19 and graduated around the same time as I did. He is from Richfield Utah, but he will be great! 

So really just the rest of the week we went around trying to get him introduced to members, and just have been trying to help him get use to missionary schedule. 

Sunday we had Stephen and Adriann at church which was really good, Ben wasn't there, but that night we were able to go over to his apartment with Stephen. And they had some different concerns that I was really nervous about answering. But we were able to get the spirit there, and we were able to help overcome the majority of the concerns. So now we are working with them with their other concerns, and trying to see when we can reschedule dates for them. 

We talked a lot about prophets and they were wondering when to know if the prophet is speaking with the power from God, or if he is just speaking as a man. And we were able to read a couple of different scriptures and really we just bore testimony about how we can receive a 2nd witness for ourselves on whether what the prophet is saying is true or not. When we listen to the Prophet we can take the time and read the scriptures and to pray. If we have concerns then we can take them to our Heavenly Father. I know that He will answer our prayers, He loves us and wants whats best for us. We just have to do our part and ask Him, and just like it says in D&C 9 we can find out whether it is right or not. I know that is true and I bear testimony of that! I have seen in while I have been out, I have seen it work in the lives of the people I have worked with out here. I have a knowledge that God will provide an answer through the Gift of the Holy Ghost! 

Well over all it has been a great week. I hope everything is well back home! Y'all are awesome, keep up the good missionary work. Please with this new year pray for opportunities to serve and bring others closer to Christ. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints this is our responsibility. 

Elder Joshua V. Christensen

New Year

  Well it looks like I will be here at least 6 more weeks, but sadly I am losing my companion. We got calls last night that said he was leaving. It is kind of hard because we have only been with each other 3 months, and so many things were going so well here. But we both know that the Lord has a plan. So tomorrow we will find out how it will all work out. I don't know if I am training or just getting a new companion. Once again I will just have to wait till tomorrow. Well this week had its ups and downs.

Monday we met with Stephen for lunch and he told us that we was absolutely ready for baptism, and we were excited to hear that. And then that night we met with Stephen and Ben, and Ben said he had a feeling of worry and just wanted to wait a little while before he got baptized. But we just talked to them about really studying the scriptures and praying. So we thought we helped them with some of there concerns.

Tuesday we helped our Ward Mission Leader put together a play set for his kids, and he had non members that were present, so that was good. But after we went around and visited with members. We went to a couple different homes that night that had us over for dinner. It was really fun to be able to spend time with those families. Then they did a little nativity as a family and we were able to just listen and feel the spirit. We have some amazing members here in the ward! 

Weds was amazing. We did our studies in the morning and then went out to visit some members and then went to our Ward Mission Leaders home to skype home. And that was like the greatest thing ever. I was so blessed to be able to hear from my older brother. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to talk with him but we got to talk for a little while! And then skyping and seeing my family was really fun! It scared me at first because when I logged on to my skype account my dad was trying to call me with in seconds and it freaked me out cause I wasn't ready! But as I called him back later it was so great to hear his voice and see my family! It was really good and by the time I got done talking with everyone I was ready to just get back to work, and work hard. 

Thursday and Friday were really hard for us. So many members left town and are gone until next week. We were struggling so bad to find people to teach and things to do. It completely slowed the work down. But we will still work hard to stay busy. It was just a little bit discouraging going back and forth from homes trying to find some one who would answer. 

But Friday we had district meeting, and it went all right. But right after district meeting we got a call from Stephen. He told us he wants some more time to investigate. He was reading something that his dad asked him to read, and we were nervous about that. But as of right now we are trying to reschedule baptismal dates with them. Right now we just need to help them overcome their concerns. But I know with the Lord that it is possible. 

Saturday was very similar to the end of the week. We were able to get in with some members that day, but really the majority of our success came that night when we went street contacting at the mall. So that was a blessing to be able to teach some lessons there. 

Sunday was a missionary day, my companion spoke in Church and I helped teach the combine 3rd hour. I talked about setting goals. And just really made me think of why we set goals in our life. We do it because we want to accomplish something. Well then we think well why as a missionary is it important to set inspired goals. I continued thinking, and just thought when we set goals as missionaries and we include the Lord in our planning, the Lord will provide opportunities for us to accomplish those goals. When we include Him, He will help us to achieve them as well as help us to go above and beyond those goals. We just have to ask Him and have a faith as well as hope that we can accomplish them when we rely on Him. 

So with this new year, I would just invite Y'all back home to set goals with the Lord. Goals about missionary work and other spiritual goals that  you may have. I promise you that as you do this you will be able to achieve those goals and that you will be able to be spiritually strengthened. I know that this is true.

I hope y'all have a great week! 

Elder Joshua V. Christensen

Merry Christmas Y'all!

   Time is flying by so fast. I can't believe that Christmas is almost here! Well it has been a really good week. We have continued to see some amazing miracles happening at this time of the year. This week we were able to meet with Stephen and Ben a couple of times to teach them and had some great experiences. We got in with alot of families that we have been trying to meet, and we are just seeing the work continue to press forward. We also had an incredible Christmas Zone Conference. 

    So Tuesday I was on exchanges with the zone leader and we had some really good things happen. We were able to get in with alot of  the families and we were able to share some great Christmas messages. But we had a cool experience during our studies. We were both studying about the Book of Mormon because we were preparing to teach one of there investigators. And the study was truly let by the spirit. When we started our companionship study we were talking about the things that we had learned. And we read the exact same things and had the exact same thoughts of order to teach it in and what to talk about. It was truly inspired. So we went to go visit this investigator, but the appt fell through. We joked about preparing that lesson for nothing. 

But we went around visiting some different people that day, but one of the less actives in that ward was trying to get better at reading the Book of Mormon. So we were able to share that inspired lesson with him. And it really helped him. It is amazing to see what happens when you put things in the Lords hands. Even when you think that things fall through, God can lead us to others that need help. 

   Wednesday we went and did some more service at Panther Creek inspirational ranch. That was good and then the rest of that day we just went around trying to meet with different members of the ward. And we were able to see some great things happen. That night we met with Ben and Stephen and we taught them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We did it a little different then we usually would. We decided to read through 2nd Nephi 31 and point our the doctrine in there. It went really well and they said they understood it. We then committed Ben to be baptized on January 4th with his Brother. He said if he finds and answer then he would. See these blessing that are going on here. That is 4 with a baptismal date in January. The Lord is truly hastening his work. It was really great too because we had a member at the home that connected really well with Ben and Stephen.

Thursday we did our weekly planning and were able to plan for how to help each of our investigators. We really focused on what we could teach that would help them as a person progress. And we really feel that we found ways to help them. We came up with lesson plans and way to teach them. Then that afternoon we went out and again were able to get in with alot of different families and meet other members of the ward that we didn't know as well. And we got in with some of the Less actives that we have never met before. So those were miracles in an of them selves. 

   Friday was when we had an amazing Zone conference. We talked so much about the plan of salvation and the need for our savior Jesus Christ. And then after that they did a Christmas Program with music and with talks about this time of the year. The spirit could be felt so strongly while we were in there.It was just an all around great day to be a missionary. As we all sang the spirit was just so strong. We had over half of the mission there for this zone conference. 

   Saturday we were able to have lunch with a recent convert from another ward that I have come to know really well. He was the one we went and helped at a food drive a couple months ago. He told us that he is now moving to take another CEO position in San Antonio. Well we just started talking and we got on the subject of Schooling, and he asked what my plans were for when I got back into college in a couple of years. I told him originally I thought about majoring in Mechanical Engineering, but now I am thinking more in business and finance. And he like that and said, " Well when you graduate college, give me a call and I will have you come work with me." I know that is a long time away, but it was just a cool thought.  Being able to have a job out of college and being able to come back to Texas. 

Well after this we went to teach Ben and Stephen again. And we were planning on teaching some of the commandments. But we thought we would talk about keeping the Sabbath day holy and follow the prophet and the Word of Wisdom. We started talking, and opened with a prayer. It was like a spiritual roller coaster ride for the first part of the lesson. One minute the spirit was so strong and he next jokes were being said. I was trying to keep pushing through he lesson. Well were talking to Ben about the Word of Wisdom and when we said that it included not drinking tea he was not very happy about it. He wanted to know where it said that in the scriptures. We took him to Doctrine and Covenants 89. When we read the vs. talking about the hot drinks we told him that it meant tea and coffee. 

And he began to say well if got wanted us not to drink coffee and tea he would have put it right in there, and my companion was beginning to get a little frustrated and was beginning to say " Ben we can tell you this all day what it means but you need to pray about it and ask God." Ben then said well if I pray to God and ask and he says I can't then I am drinking it. It was getting a bit contentious, and then I just looked at Ben and started talking. I said something along the lines of... " Ben at the end of the day the Book of Mormon is true or its is not. We ask you to read and pray about it because if you come to the knowledge that it is true, then it means that Joseph Smith did see God the Father and His son Jesus Christ. That means that Joseph Smith was a prophet in these last days and could recie.........." And then he cut me off and said " Fine I have my answer."  my stomach dropped thinking that he was going to want to drop us. But he then said in a hushed tone, while you were speaking I got an answer to my question, and I didn't even pray." He had the still small voice touch his heart. He then told us I will dump out all of my tea and wine. The spirit was so strong and my jaw was just dropped. I couldn't believe what just happened. They tell you alot  that the spirit it the teacher and you are the mouth piece. 

   I again have a stronger testimony of this. I know that God will put words in our mouth that can help someone. I know that the spirit testified to him of the truthfulness of the message. The spirit really teach others. It was such an amazing experience I can't even fully describe the feelings that were felt at this point in the lesson. I know that this gospel is true.I know that Jesus is the Christ and in and through him we can find peace that our Heavenly Father wants us to have. I know that this is true, and I testify of it. 

Well I hope y'all have a very merry Christmas! Remember to look for ways to help others out this Christmas season! 

Elder Joshua V. Christensen

CHRISTmas season!

Hey hope y'all are having a wonderful week! 

Things this week have been really good. We have continued to see miracles going on in this area. I went on exchanges this week. It was really good! On Monday and Tuesday I was on exchanges, and exchanges are a great chance to go and learn from other missionaries! Tuesday we were able to get lessons taught, but that night when we were trying to contact people at the mall we ran in to someone who wanted to ask us some questions. We tried to answer his questions and use the scriptures to help him understand. We were there for an hour and a half. It was a long night, and he walked away trying to prove what his bible believed and wasn't very happy with us. It was another one of those moments that are hard to be a missionary. But at the same time, those moments are where you really can grow and learn and feel of the saviors love for each of us. We didn't have all of the answers to his questions, because we are not perfect teachers. But to end Tuesday night we exchanged back and did our planning. 

Wednesday we went around finishing delivering invitations to the Christmas party that we had planned for Saturday. We were able  to get in with some different less actives in the ward, and with other members as well. We were giving extra invitations out so others would invite there friends to come. But that night we went over to teach Ben and Stephen the next lesson. And for the first hour we were just there answering alot of the questions that they had. And Stephen is one that is truly prepared. He has started reading the Doctrine and Covenants just for fun, and he is really sincere when it comes to learning about more.  

Ben is also very prepared. They had alot of good questions that tied into the lesson we were going to teach them on the plan of salvation. So after answering alot of questions we dove into the plan of salvation and started to be able to answer some of the questions they had. I love being able to talk about the plan of salvation because of the joy and knowledge that it has brought into my life. I love being able to know that because of the atonement of Jesus Christ I can continue to progress back towards my Father in Heaven. I love being able to know that as I continue to repent and become better that someday I can live with my Heavenly Father and my family and have eternal life! That is such a huge blessing of knowing about this wonderful plan. 

So we taught it and committed Ben and Stephen to come to church, and they accepted and they also said they would come to the Ward Christmas Party. So it was just a great night and the spirit was so strong, they are truly interested in learning more, and are very open to the idea of Baptism. 

Thursday we did a lot of service with the Bishop. We helped him boil 4 sheep heads. That is also whats cool about this ward, its the only ward where you will talk about missionary work while helping do taxidermy! It was a good day and we were able to really help the Bishop out. After helping him out we did our weekly planning which was good! We got a lot of ideas for how we can help our investigators to progress and help them out. Weekly planning can be long, but it is also so good! When it is done right you really can receive revelation on what we can do to be better and help others out. 

Friday we had a great specialized training by the President, and it was about planning and setting inspired goals. It was such a great training and some of the things that were said I absolutely needed to hear. It was good to learn more about how to better use our time. We had the chance to also meet with one of our investigators named Morgan and we taught him about the plan of salvation, and he agreed that he would take the time and read the Book of Mormon. Also that night we made these little bundles that we wanted to give out at the Christmas party as gifts people could take to there friends. So we had a big assembly line of us putting those together and we made about 40.

Saturday we had our ward Christmas party and it was a really good turn out. We had Ben and Ashlie come to it which was really fun. We were wearing these ugly Christmas sweaters that we found at Walmart, so that was fun. 

And alot of people took the bundles for gifts that we made. So we will be following up to see how it goes. But we were so happy when we saw Ben come to the party. They stayed and we were able to share a Christmas message with those who were at the party! Sharing messages about our Savior Jesus Christ really can bring the spirit into our homes so much! I love being able to share that with others! 

Sunday we had Ben and Stephen and Adriann all come to church. So that was way good. Ben and Stephen stayed for all 3 hours and they said that they enjoyed it. The ward did a great job at making them feel welcome. They had alot of good questions that we were able to help them answer while they were there. That night we met with Adriann and taught her the next discussion. She is continuing to progress. We are so blessed to be able to have our investigators progressing!  There are alot of great things going on here in this ward. 

 Things are going well, and I would just encourage each of you to continue to look for opportunities to serve during this great Christmas season. I know that so many people can feel that peace and love that comes from the savior Jesus Christ. It all just starts by talking with one person. You can do it. Things really are going well here and I feel so blessed to be able to serve in this ward this Christmas season! :)

I hope y'all have a great week! 

Elder Joshua V. Christensen

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Hey everybody, 

Sorry this was a slower week, so it might not be a very long email. But this week was kind of crazy trying to get in contact and meet with some of our investigators. But luckily this next week we will be able to meet with a bunch of them. But this week was good, we had some great service opportunities. 

We had a member of our ward that had surgery on his knee, and he was up and moving really quick. He was able to work at the temple and get some things done around his house last weekend. But on Tuesday right before we were going to the temple we got a call from his wife saying that he was now in the hospital because of blood clots. So we went and helped give him a blessing. And then after we went to the temple which was really good! I always love going there. 

But then we just got back to work that night trying to meet new people at the mall and teaching members. We met with one of our investigators named Adriann and she accepted the invitation to be baptized on January 11th! We have some great things going on her in the ward!

Wednesday we went back to the hospital to check back on this Brother in our ward and he was doing a lot better. They put him on some blood thinners and it was helping him a lot. He just mentioned that he needed to be careful to not cut him self. But we just went and checked up on him and then met some new members of our ward. They are such a great family, and are really wanting to help in anyway they can with missionary work. I love seeing how much members of this ward are wanting do missionary work now. It is so amazing!

Thursday we had weekly planning, and came up with some different finding ideas that we can use for the holidays. And we came up with some good ideas that we were wanting to share the next day at district meeting. We also had the chance to go and meet with our bishop that day. We just discussed and were seeing how we could help members in the ward with there missionary work. 

Friday we had district meeting, and we were sharing some ideas for finding, and for the role plays that day we discussed how we could include members in the finding this great Christmas season. One of the ideas that me and my companion came up with is this. We will get a copy of Joy to the World DVDs and then a copy of The Living Christ, the Testimony of the Apostles, and a copy of The Book of Mormon. And we are making a bundle out of those. And we are going to make about 40 of them. And our Christmas party is this week and we are taking them there and we are going to show them to the members. We are going to share a brief Christmas message and invite members of the ward to take these bundles and give it to there friends or neighbors this Christmas season. Christmas is truly a great time when we can help and serve others, and we know that these little bundles can help bring Joy to others. 

Saturday we went over to the Brothers home in our ward that had surgery and we helped him put up his Christmas lights. We had to keep watching what he was doing because he really wanted to help, but he is on a blood thinner, and every time we turned around he was trying to string lights through a rose bush! So we had to keep giving him a hard time. But it was a great chance to go help out. It was a bit chilly, but it was so fun. I am amazed at how cold it can be here in Houston. This year it has been a bit different than past years I guess, it may only get down to 30 degrees, but the humidity and wind chill really can get you. But it was still fun. After doing the lights we were able to just chat with this family for a little while and help them out with some other things.

 Later that day we went around and were delivering invitations for our ward Christmas party. And then we went to our ward mission leaders home that night to decorate ginger bread houses. Now the great thing about his is there were about 20 non members. So we got to meet some of his friends and got to talk a little bit about what we do as missionaries. Well we did decorate ginger bread houses that night, but me and my companion decided to switch things up and so we teamed up and made a ginger bread temple! It took some work, but it was really fun! But it was a great day.

Sunday we had church and we had 3 of our investigators come, and it was really good! We are have a lot of our investigators progressing right now which is really good! But that night we went to a members home to watch the Christmas Devotional! It was really great! I loved the things that were said during it, and I just love this time of the year. We celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus Christ we can find true peace in each of our lives. Because of the atonement he created we can find peace when we are going through hard times in our lives. I know that it is true, because I have been able to feel that peace in my own life when I have had struggles. I also love how Christmas is a great time to serve. I thing I remember hearing when I was younger was this, " Joy comings through serving, it comes through Serving Jesus, Others and You. This Christmas season I hope we all can look for more opportunities to serve those around us. Keep praying for missionary experiences. Remember what M. Russel Ballard said in last general conference.  

  "We are not asking everyone to do everything. We are simply asking all members to pray, knowing that if every member, young and old, will reach out to just “one” between now and Christmas, millions will feel the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a wonderful gift to the Savior."

I know that if we do this, we will be able to help so many people feel the love of Jesus Christ. So keep up the good work and look for those chances to serve. As you do it you will have more of a desire to share the gospel and I also promise that the Lord will help you with the things you need to say. I know that it is true. 

I hope all Y'all have a great week!

Elder Christensen

Elder Christensen included the following picture in his email:

When asked what this was he explained:

That is the Pavilion, if you look it up you will find it, but it is a big out door theater where people perform. 

Random....So if you are in the Woodlands and want to see a concert, you can go check it out.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Howdy Y'all, this week has been a good one. We had a great opportunity on Monday to have a thanksgiving Preparation day. We went to the stake center and got to watch Ephraims Rescue. It was such a great movie. It is very similar to 17 miracles. But it was great to watch, and the spirit was there as we watched it. I loved seeing how obedient Ephraim Hanks was. Whenever asked to do something by the prophet Brigham Young. It was very touching to see that when Brigham was asking some of the men to go and help the saints coming across the plains. And many of them were willing but needed some days to get ready to make the journey, but Ephraim was ready to go at that moment. I love the message of how we should always be prepared for callings or things we are asked to do by the prophets. 

Tuesdays was just going around to visit with members, but we were able to go do some service at a local food bank.  So that was fun. But then after we did that we then went and talked with members. But that night we had an opportunity to teach some new investigators. So that was a great experience. We were able to set up a return appointment for tomorrow. 

Weds was a bit crazy. So we started out by visiting some members and we were actually able to help someone who was moving out. He was a really nice guy, and after we just continued to go to members homes. So after going to a couple different homes we parked and were getting ready to go meet some more members. My companion tried to open the door, and it made a clicking noise and the door would not open. Something on the inside of the car had broken off. So then we got to call our vehicle coordinator, and he already doesn't like our car cause it had different problems. But we basically spent 4 hours in the car in traffic driving to get it fixed and then driving back to our area. But luckily it was a quick fix once we got there and we decided to go to the mall that night and see if we could get some more lessons there. 

So we got to the mall and went in and with in the first 15 minutes of being there we were able to teach 3 lessons to some members. We had a big family stop us and we were able to talk with them and teach them a lesson. So after a crazy day we were able to teach some lessons. 

Thursday was Thanksgiving, and we only had a few set appointments that day. But in the morning we did our studies and our weekly planning. And while doing our weekly planning I started to set up this Christmas tree in our apartment that we had and started to get the lights to work with it. And when you are poor missionaries with know decorations you need to get creative. So we did. We decorated our tree with momon.org cards and with pictures of the temple. 

We also put some other things we had there in the tree. I found a golf ball and thought how I could use it in the tree. So I also realized that I had a couple other golf balls in one of my bags, so I got those out and then I had the thought to put a push pin in them and tie a string to them and I make decorations out of those. That was what we did during planning for the morning. 

So then we went over to the Jackson's home where they made us a wonderful thanksgiving meal. It was so good. I really enjoyed being able to have a thanksgiving this year. I joked with these members about how last Thanksgiving I couldn't eat anything because I had just got my wisdom teeth out. But then following this meal we were able to get to know the members a lot better. We then went to some more members homes and we had the chance to be able to teach some lessons. So it was a great day! 

Friday we had zone meeting and I was having a hard time concentrating during it. This week I came down with a cold, so I didn't feel to great. But it was a good meeting we just talked about how we can do better at making commitments and following up with our investigators. Because we we invite our investigators to do things like read the scriptures or go to church or to live certain commandments then we are inviting them to repent. Or in other words helping them to make changes in there lives where they can come closer to our savior Jesus Christ. 

But that night we had dinner with a a member of the ward and with her non member friend named Stan. And Stan is a great guy. We were able to explain some of the things that we believe as well as why were came out on mission. And he thought it was very interesting. He told us he will not convert, but we aren't out here only to convert people to the gospel. We are here to help others come closer to Jesus Christ. And as we do this it does help them to gain a testimony as they do read or pray. So that helps them, and that can lead them to want to make that decision of baptism and becoming a member. But we are not here just to increase  membership in the church. 

Saturday we had a cool miracle happen. So we got a referral from the church, and usually when we get them from mormon.org they really aren't real. They always fall through. But we got a referral and we went to go check on it. And we pulled up to this house that was in the same neighborhood as a different referral we got a couple weeks ago. That referral wanted nothing to do with us and wanted us off his property. So we were a little nervous when we went into that same neighborhood. But the new referral we got was two houses away from that old referral. And we saw a black ford fusion in the driveway and we both thought, why do we know that car? And it turns out it was one of the people that lives in our apartment complex named Ben. So we knocked on the door and Ben answered and we told him that we got information about someone wanting to learn more about the church and he told us that it was his brother Stephen that was interested. 

So we set up an appointment to meet with him yesterday. And we took one of the priests with us and he was so awesome during this appointment. It was really good. Ben let us teach over at his apartment and Ben invited one of his friends that is a member. And it was just an incredible lesson. The spirit was there and we invited Stephen to be baptized and he said if he is ready and has an answer to his prayer he will get baptized on January 4th!! And they are both going to try and go to church this next week! Stephen is going back to school until December 14 but Ben said he would come. So it was just a great night to be able to and teach. 

I love being out here, and it is crazy to think how fast it is flying by. But I know that this is where I need to be. I am grateful for this gospel and the chance I have to share it with others. I hope that all y'all have a great week! Keep praying for missionary experiences! 

Elder Joshua V. Christensen 

My Purpose

So this week has had its ups and its downs, I can honestly say that this has been the hardest week and the best week of my entire mission so far. 

So I don't remember if I mentioned this in my email last week, but we have new sister missionaries in the ward. We are excited to be able to have them here. The work here in College Park is just going to take off I feel. But we have been doing our best to help them get to know the ward and trying to get them all of the things that they need. So it has been a stressful week for me, and I felt on edge or a good part of the week. 

We added four new people into my district so now we have 12 people in the district which is pretty big for a district here in this mission. So that made me a bit nervous. We have been trying all week to get in contact with our investigators, and we haven't had much success with that. But we were able to meet with Lexi yesterday and her dad is now letting her get baptized and her mom seems to be interested. So we set a date with her to be baptized on January 11th. So we are excited to be able to see her to continue to progress. 

So kinda like I said this whole week has been just crazy and stressful, but absolutely 100% worth it. We were able to get to know many of the members of the ward a lot better. We were able to get in with some of the Less Active members of our ward and talk with them and see how they were doing. But here are some of the miracles we were able to see this week.

Monday we were schedule to have dinner with the Bishop and his wife, and so we went over there and the house was dark. We looked at each other and wondered if they had forgot about it. So we said if that was the case we wouldn't bring it up with them. So we knock and Bishop answers the door, and he looked at us and wondered why we were there. He said that he was getting ready for bed. And so we ended up talking to him for a little bit and then we left close to 7:00pm. 

So we thought well we could do a couple of things, we could 1. Go work for an hour and a half and then go in and eat and plan a little early, or keep going. Well the thought that went through my head was, well from 6-9 is the best time for us to be out and to proselyte. So I told him I think that we should just stay out and keep going. He agreed and we kept going on. 

Well we went and taught a couple lessons over by the mall, and then we thought we would go visit some members who were in our ward, the Chappels. They are actually in the mission presidency. So we started talking to them because they got back from a trip. So while talking to him our phone rang and Elder Harris answered it. And it was a long call, but after he looked at me and his eyes were just beaming! It was a call from the Prows family saying that they had talked with Lexi and basically her dad gave her permission to be baptized and her mom was interested in coming to church! So this was a huge miracle for us, but it doesn't stop there. 

Within 3 minutes of that phone call we got a couple of messages from another one of our investigators that have been taught in the past. We have been trying to meet with them for almost 3 months now, and she texted us and told us she wants us over this Tuesday to talk with them. She also invited her non-member friend that is interested in learning more! This was absolutely huge for us! Definitely a blessing of staying out and working hard!

Tuesday we went to an interfaith Thanksgiving event. It was where we went and we listened to different religions that talked about what they believe. Our Bishop was talking about temples at it so we went and got to meet some amazing people! That night we got to teach some lessons to people that were curious about learning more.

Wednesday we went and helped out some members of our ward, and went around trying to find more people to teach as well. So that was good, but that was about it for Wednesday.

Thursday we had a weekly planning and we met with the Sisters to try and help them out. And then we went back to work to find people to teach. 

Friday we had district meeting and that went well. And then we met with the Bishop that day along with the Sisters and correlated what was going on in the ward and how we would try to divide up the  missionary efforts. But we decided not to divide it up so we will just all work together in the area which really is what is needed. 

Saturday we went and met with different less actives and with some different members and we were able to get in with some of the less actives and we got to talk with them. But I had the most incredible experience that happened to me. This has been the most amazing thing that has happened to me on my mission so far, and has really grown my testimony of this church. 

So we went to one of the less active members of our ward named James M. And so the first time I heard about this family was 2 1/2  months ago when in ward council they said that there youngest son would be able to go on a mission. Well when they said that I took a mental note to remember that. Well through out those couple months we tried to stop by a couple different times and we would leave cards, but we never go any replies. Well we were in the area where this family lived and I thought to maybe try back at this home. 

So we drove there and we knocked on the door, and he cracked the door and said, "Who is it?" We told him who we were and he said ok just a minute, and closed the door. He was putting his dogs away and while he was doing this we got a call from the sisters asking us about directions on how to get somewhere. So I am trying to help them find out where to go and he answers and lets us in. I told him I was so sorry, and he said it was fine, but my companion was talking to him and he asked Brother M where he use to live and he said, Orem, Lindon and Provo. I heard the word Lindon and that stuck with me. 

So I finally was able to get off the phone with the sisters, and I asked him immediately which part of Lindon he lived in. And he said 835 East Lindon, now I don't now why in my head that made me think of my grandpa, I am not even sure exactly what his address is, but I had the thought to ask about my grandpa. So I looked at him and asked do you know a Lloyd Christensen? He looked right at me for a few moments and his eyes watering a little, and said this to me. " How do you know that name?"

I explained to him that was my grandpa Christensen. He continued to look and me, and he said this. " I know him, I worked for him." My grandpa use to have his own typewriter business, he worked for my grandpa for many years. He said that because of my Grandpa Lloyd he was where he was today. He got started off with typewriters and later go into word perfect, and now works with a college down here in Texas. But he told me how much my grandpa helped him. And he knows a good portion of my family on the Christensen side.

Brother M served a mission in Colombia and that is actually where he met his wife. Well once he was home and after he got married he told me that My grandma and grandpa put together their wedding reception at their home in Orem by the University Mall.  My Uncle Reese came and took there photos, and he knows my uncle Peter. They use to always go water skiing up at Deer Creek together. He told me he know knows my father and worked with him a little bit. He opened up so much. The spirit was so strong and my eyes were watering. 

I then went on to tell him about how my grandpa was doing, and I told him that my grandma Marilyn Christensen passed away on June 1st 2001. And he was sad to hear that. He continued to tell me how much my grandma also helped him. The spirit was so strong and I felt like my grandma was right by me on the couch during this meeting. We continued to talk about it, and sadly we didn't have a lot of time to talk. But at the end he looked right at me again and he was almost crying, and he said, " Every time I have come in to contact with a Christensen I have questioned them and asked if they knew Lloyd Christensen, and now you are right here in front of me. His Grandson, and this was absolutely meant to happen. You came here and you found me!" 

At this point we were both in tears. After this he said he wants to come to church, he wants to come back, and after talking to him I went out to the car and just started crying again! It was incredible! I have such a strong testimony that we are sent to places for certain reasons, to find certain people. 

When I got my mission call I prepared myself, and said I would go any where. And when I opened my call at first I was happy to go to Texas, but I did wonder if it was the right place for me. I can tell you with all of my heart that I KNOW that this is where I am suppose to be. I know that all mission calls are inspired from God. God knows all of his Children, I know that it was not coincidence that James M worked for my Grandpa and not coincidence that I am here in Texas in his ward. God has a plan and he knows the people we can touch in each of our lives. 

I know that this gospel is true, I know that there are others out here that I am suppose to help. So after a long week it was the most rewarding week. This email doesn't do the experience justice but it will have to suffice for now.

Keep up the good work and I hope all Y'all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Elder Joshua V. Christensen